Parenting Stress of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Parents of children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) experience more stress than parents of children who are typically developing.Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a lifetime condition that involves persistent impairments in speech-language, social communication, and restricted and repetitive behaviors.Bringing up a child with autism can be challenging for parents due to the speci ic characteristics of autism.The present study was conducted to know parenting stress and associated factors.The study included 82 parents of children with ASD selected from different special schools and therapy centers located at Hubballi, Dharwad, and Bengaluru city.A personal information questionnaire, Parenting stress scale, and Indian scale for assessment of autism were used for data collection.The results showed a majority of the children belonged to moderate (44.00%) and severe (41.50%) categories of autism.The majority of the parents had clinical levels (75.00%) of parenting stress.The majority of the children had high problems in relationship and reciprocity (85.15%) followed by emotional responsiveness (78.05%), speech-language, and communication (65.85%).Child characteristics: younger age, being non-verbal, lack of speech-language and communication, lower cognitive abilities, and total Autism severity-induced parenting stress which can be reduced by providing intervention programs through speech therapies, cognitive behavior therapies, physical therapies etc. Parents should be supported by family members and society which help to reduce the stress caused by caring for an ASD child.